Sunday, February 22, 2009

Interest Revived in Lost Amazonian Civilization

Artist's conception of El Dorado, based on conquistadors' accounts.

A book entitled The Lost City of Z by journalist David Grann ~ plus the recent discovery of some jungle-covered ruins in the Amazon basin ~ are igniting interest in the legendary golden city of (take your pick) Paititi, El Dorado, or simply Z.

Grann’s book follows the trail of Victorian adventurer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett who died in the Amazonian jungles searching for Z. There is some speculation, however, that he may have found his legendary destination prior to his death.

For more information on Fawcett’s search, plus far-more-speculative information collected by New Age author Eric von Daniken, Allan Colston’s blog “The Last Days of Tolemac” has interesting recent posts on Fawcett, Juan Moricz, and Padre Carlos Crespi.

The entire Paititi-El Dorado-Z story is fascinatingly on a par with speculation about Atlantis and Lemuria, with tantalizing tales of current-day artifacts worth far more than their weight in gold when it comes to the evidence they could shed on a major lost civilization.

Click here for the Time magazine article on Fawcett.Click here for the Last Days of Tolemac blog, then scroll down a few posts.

Fawcett (second from right) and his team in the Amazonian jungle, 1925.

No comments:

Tides represent the high and low, the ebb and flow. They're the rhythm spanning millennia and an apt image for this blog as it seeks to provide accounts linking today with ages long past. New archaeological finds and scholarly speculations help us better understand our ancestors and this small planet we've shared. And the better we understand our forebears and their environs, the better we know ourselves.

A Top History Site

Ancient Tidesis in the Top 5 favorite ancient-history blogs at Baidun Galleries, one of the world's leading dealers in rare and exquisite antiquities, located in Jerusalem. A Baidun spokesman said Ancient Tides is among "a few reputable bloggers pertaining to ancient history that we thought deserved a shout out."

Ancient Tides is the top blog in the Ancient History category at Masters in History, a portal for online degrees in History.

* * *

Ancient Tides has been called one of the top ancient history blogs by Ace Online Schools, a guide to schools, degrees and other educational programs.

* * *

Ancient Tides is listed among the "Top 100 History Blogs" by Guide to Online Schools, a portal to various online education programs.